How-to
What is Virtualtrails?
Virtualtrails is a fitness companion that maps your everyday movement onto virtual journeys inspired by real routes, so you see meaningful progress instead of only step counts. This page is the big picture — what it is, why people stick with it, and how a first walk becomes a finished trail.
Overview
A virtual trail, not a trip planner
You walk, run, or roll where you already live and exercise. Virtualtrails turns that movement into progress along famous and inspiring routes around the world — distance on the ground becomes distance along the trail on the map. It is motivation and progress, not turn-by-turn directions for your next holiday.
- You choose virtual trails that give your routine a story and a finish line to aim for.
- You can browse trails before you create an account, then save journeys when you sign up.
What to look for
What to remember
- Think companion app for exercise, not a map for planning a physical trip.
- Your real-world distance is what moves you forward on the route.
Overview
Why it helps with fitness motivation
Everyday walks become visible progress on a real-world trail, so it feels easier to stay motivated and keep going. Instead of only watching numbers climb, you move along a path toward a destination — the same streets can feel new when they are part of a journey.
- You stay motivated by seeing each walk move you further along a trail.
- Exercise feels less repetitive when it has a clear place you are heading.
- Progress feels more rewarding than step totals alone, because you can picture where you are on the route.
What to look for
Themes you will see elsewhere
- Stay motivated — visible progress along real trails.
- Escape boring routes — a new journey even on familiar streets.
- See real progress — step by step along iconic paths from wherever you are.
Overview
The start-to-finish flow, in broad strokes
From discovering a trail to crossing its virtual finish line, the flow is simple: pick a route, turn it into your journey, add distance as you exercise, watch the trail fill in, and unlock moments along the way. You can line up more than one trail, but one is usually the focus for automatic updates.
- Browse trails and start one you like — it becomes your journey with its own progress and history.
- Choose which trail is active if you use more than one, so workouts and syncs know where to land.
- Add distance from connected fitness apps or by typing it in; your position on the route updates.
- Discover achievements and surprises as you go, then finish the route and keep your completed journey to revisit or share.
What to look for
A simple order to picture
- Discover → start journey → log movement → see the trail advance → complete when you reach the end.
- Details like queueing trails and what “active” means are in how to start a journey.
Overview
Keeping progress flowing
Connect the fitness apps you already use, or enter distance yourself. Your profile can show kilometres, miles, or steps. Some trails adjust how far an entry moves you on the route — the important idea is that your logged movement drives the journey forward.
- Supported workouts from apps can attach to your active trail automatically once everything is linked.
- If you are focused on challenges or have no active trail, distance can still find the right place — see how to log progress for that flow.
What to look for
Go deeper when you are ready
- Use the fitness platforms screen to connect or disconnect services.
- Read the full picture on units, adjustments, and manual logging in how to log progress.
Overview
Beyond one trail
Once the basics click, you can layer on more: achievements along the route, walking with others on a team journey, optional challenge goals, and sharing. None of that is required to enjoy a single journey from start to finish.
- How to understand achievements — milestones and surprise finds tied to the trail.
- How team journeys work — collaborate on one shared journey or compete on the same route.
- How challenges work — optional goals that sit on top of your journeys.
What to look for
Pick what fits
- Each topic has its own guide — start from the how-to hub.
- You can ignore teams and challenges entirely and still complete virtual trails.
Overview
Where to read next
This overview is the top level. When you want step-by-step help, open the guide that matches what you are doing — each topic below has its own page.
- How to start a journey — active trail, queue, and finishing.
- How to log progress — apps, manual entry, units, and adjustments.
- How to understand achievements — milestones and surprise finds.
- How team journeys work — collaborative and competitive.
- How challenges work — optional goals on top of journeys.
What to look for
All guides
- The how-to hub lists every guide with a clear button for each.
- Use Help & feedback if you need account support.